THE director of a yachting management company has been acquitted of the manslaughter of four sailors who died when the Cheeki Rafiki yacht sank mid-Atlantic.

A jury found Douglas Innes, of Southampton, not guilty following a retrial at Winchester Crown Court after a previous jury failed to reach verdicts on the charges.

The 43-year-old and his company Stormforce Coaching Limited are awaiting sentencing after being convicted at the first trial of failing to operate the yacht in a safe manner contrary to the Merchant Shipping Act.

Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, died in the disaster along with Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, also in Somerset, captain Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey, and James Male, 22, from Southampton.

They had been taking part in a regatta in Antigua and were sailing back to Southampton when their vessel capsized approximately 720 miles east-south-east of Nova Scotia in Canada on May 16, 2015.